Thursday, September 30, 2010

...so this is my last night in Berlin. It's late, I'm tired and I've had a sniff of the brewer's apron so I'm not expecting much. But, I think I should try and capture some kind of parting thought no matter how addled. I've been here 3 months. I came here with very little expectation (maybe a few preconceptions). I saw a lot of art, I didn't see much great art or even better art (with exceptions) that I couldn't have seen anywhere else. The residency enabled me to meet some great people who do really good and interesting work. It also,... (well maybe I'm not that drunk).I tried to balance getting the most out of the city with producing my own work, and in that respect I think I did ok. I wanted to keep the images I produced fragmented, a response to my time here and whatever I was thinking about, seeing or doing. The pieces I produced had to be smaller, quicker, abbreviated. As a collection they might appear all over the place, that makes sense. But I think the same themes and commonalities are there if you choose to look for them. I didn't intend or expect to show outside of the residency but when I got a couple of shows that changed my approach and seemed to hobble my direction..... I feel myself disintegrating into waffle so I'll end here, for now. Tomorrow Amsterdam and then home, to Auckland.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Before I leave Berlin it was great to be able to catch a fascinating exhibit at two intimate locations in the city. Galleria Nove & Werkstattgallerie are displaying a controversial collection of around fifty drawings 'attributed' to Francis Bacon.

From a complete amateur's perspective I was a little skeptical but was told that authentication beyond all doubt, was imminent.

From the press release by curator Edward Lucie-Smith: As everyone interested in Bacon’s work knows, Bacon many times, and often vehemently, denied that he made any use of drawing. This is contradicted however by an early interview with the critic David Sylvester (Bacon’s most frequent interlocutor), which is preserved on film. In it, Bacon admits that he does draw, but coyly says that puts his drawings aside and doesn’t look at them, when the moment comes to paint a picture. Yet, since Bacon’s lonely death in Madrid in 1992, a mass of evidence has emerged to show that he not only did draw, but drew prolifically.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

“Breaking Windows”, a group exhibition looking at social entropy through projects addressing ideas of order and disorder.I nearly walked right passed the sound piece concerning the events at Jonestown and it was probably one of the most affecting pieces.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

With a bit of perseverance, I managed to get it listed in a couple of conspicuous places:NPR BerlinExBerliner Magazine (not sure why they rewrote the press-release though, so don't expect any brightly coloured oils, or subtle watercolours).